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The Carolina Hurricanes have been surging over the past couple of weeks, winning four straight games to improve to 6-2 — but they'll be without star goaltender Frederik Andersen for the foreseeable future.
Although Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said earlier this week that he expected the netminder to be out short-term, Andersen has now been downgraded to week-to-week, the bench boss confirmed.
“That’s a little more time than I was hoping, but hopefully, we’ll get an update every week,” Brind'Amour said on Thursday, according to NHL.com's Kurt Dusterberg. “That's how it's going to shake out, obviously, unfortunately.”
The Hurricanes defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in overtime on Monday night; Andersen did not dress for that contest. It came two days after the Swede made 18 saves in a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
It's a tough blow for Carolina; Andersen has been one of the best goalies in the NHL in the early going. He's up to 3-1 with a sparkling 1.48 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in 2024-25.
Last season, the veteran missed 50 regular-season games due to a blood clotting issue. He was solid when he returned in March, although the Hurricanes were ousted in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the New York Rangers.
In Andersen's absence, it'll be Pyotr Kochetkov taking the reins; the two goaltenders have been rotating starts since the season commenced. The Russian made 24 saves in Monday's triumph over the Canucks, and will be back in between the pipes when the Hurricanes face the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
“I think he really wants that, so we'll see how it all works out,” Brind'Amour said of Kochetkov, per Dusterberg. “But he's more than likely going to get a good run at it.”
Spencer Martin was called up and should remain the backup goaltender until Andersen is ready to return.
Despite Frederik Andersen's injury, Hurricanes are surging up the Metro
Losing Andersen for any stretch of time is a discouraging blow, especially with how well he's played this season. But the Hurricanes have looked excellent over the last 10 days, winning four consecutive games to shoot up to fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.
And Kochetkov has been looking comfortable between the pipes, posting a 3-1 record of his own with a 2.78 goals-against average and .894 save percentage. The Canes are just four points back of the first-place New Jersey Devils with a full five games in hand and are looking like one of the premier teams in the Eastern Conference as of late.
Now, with six wins in their last seven and showing no signs of slowing down, the Hurricanes will finally return to Raleigh after a long six-game road trip that began on October 18.
They'll now spend a little bit of time at PNC Arena, hosting the Bruins on Thursday before welcoming three Metro Division rivals in the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins over the next week.
Ideally, Andersen will be able to return to the lineup at some point in November.
